Set atop the city of Athens sits an enigmatic piece of Athenian history. The Parthenon has long held one of the most historically perplexing friezes in ancient Greece. Temples were a common form of worship in ancient Greek society and often held many art pieces in honor of the god or goddess that the temple was dedicated to. These artifacts left behind from ancient societies hold key insight into what society was like and what was culturally important in ancient Greece. Joan B. Connelly may hold some significance in uncovering the truth about the Parthenon and its mysterious frieze in her article “Parthenon and Parthenoi: A Mythological Interpretation of the Parthenon Frieze”. In order to examine Connelly’s argument on the context of the Parthenon
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She supports this by comparing the figure to two other sculptures of priests in figures two and three of the article. She also makes reference to other art pieces depicting sacrifice within the same margin of time. Connelly directly focuses on the attire of the sacrificed in order to explain the cloths that the three younger children in the east frieze are holding. In figure five of the article she references Tyrrhenian amphora a painting that shows a sacrifice in which the woman is wrapped in extravagantly woven garments. This supports her theory that the cloths are sacred peplos and were meant to be worn during a sacrifice. Connelly effectively uses the comparison of different art pieces and references to historical text to support her claims on the …show more content…
The Parthenon is an exemplary example of how art was complexly woven into all forms of society. Art was not only prominently used in religious worship, but it was also used as a successful political platform, and at this point in history as a sign of authority and knowledge. The Parthenon was a religious symbol for the city of Athens, its where they would have offered an agalma to Athena to ensure the city’s safety. It is not just about what the temple stood for but also what was depicted on the temple. The friezes of the Parthenon hold so much cultural insight from the depiction of the procession to the sacrificial ceremony. It shows historians how the gods and goddesses were viewed and how that coincided with culture in ancient
She supports this by comparing the figure to two other sculptures of priests in figures two and three of the article. She also makes reference to other art pieces depicting sacrifice within the same margin of time. Connelly directly focuses on the attire of the sacrificed in order to explain the cloths that the three younger children in the east frieze are holding. In figure five of the article she references Tyrrhenian amphora a painting that shows a sacrifice in which the woman is wrapped in extravagantly woven garments. This supports her theory that the cloths are sacred peplos and were meant to be worn during a sacrifice. Connelly effectively uses the comparison of different art pieces and references to historical text to support her claims on the …show more content…
The Parthenon is an exemplary example of how art was complexly woven into all forms of society. Art was not only prominently used in religious worship, but it was also used as a successful political platform, and at this point in history as a sign of authority and knowledge. The Parthenon was a religious symbol for the city of Athens, its where they would have offered an agalma to Athena to ensure the city’s safety. It is not just about what the temple stood for but also what was depicted on the temple. The friezes of the Parthenon hold so much cultural insight from the depiction of the procession to the sacrificial ceremony. It shows historians how the gods and goddesses were viewed and how that coincided with culture in ancient